Sitecore Resources

Documentation and Training

The college has adopted a new Content Management System (CMS) called Sitecore. One of the benefits of Sitecore is that it allows us to produce a dynamic website. This is a vast improvement over our old CMS, which provided a static website.

As a Sitecore user, you are part of a college-wide team of contributors and owners making updates within the CMS. As a contributor, you will be able to edit, add or delete content within the website. As an owner, you can access Sitecore to provide departmental level approval of content. The Web Management team is here to support and guide your efforts according to the established Web Content Standards and Management Procedures.

What is the difference between a static vs. dynamic website?

A static website consists of a series of HTML files, each representing an entire page of a website. Every page on the old site was a separate HTML file, that was produced and placed on the server. When a user visited the page, the entire static page is called by the browser and displayed.

For a dynamic site like the new CCBC site, the CMS builds pages on the fly. Rather than having a prefabricated page, Sitecore stores all of the components for a page in its database. When the page is visited by a user it builds it just in time from all of these components. and displays it to the user.

The dynamic approach has many advantages. Most notably, it allows us to manage a given piece of content as a single item, yet have it display on any number of pages throughout the site. Any time that single item is edited, the changes are reflected everywhere it is displayed on the site.

Responsive web design

The new CCBC website is a responsive website. Responsive web design is an approach in which websites are crafted to provide optimal viewing experiences — easy reading and navigation with little resizing, panning, and scrolling — across a wide range of platforms from desktop computers to tablets to mobile devices.

Sitecore definitions

This section covers concepts and definitions that are foundational to working in CCBC’s Sitecore Page Editor environment. Pages, media, user interface, content fields, and terminology are explained in this section.

Sitecore training manual

This training manual is designed to provide a framework for using Sitecore to manage content on the CCBC website. It provides instructions for core tasks that the typical Sitecore user must be familiar with to manage his or her designated content. It is not a comprehensive user manual; however, the fundamental concepts and procedures explained here provide a foundation for new Sitecore users and serve as a reference guide for them in the future.

How to get help

Since updating the website is part of a larger integrated communications strategy, it is important for your team to work closely with the College Communications Web Management Team when making significant updates to the website.

Examples of significant updates include (but are not limited to):

Adding a new section to the website

Adding new pages within and existing area

Other changes to the information architecture, such as renaming or moving pages

Adding video and multimedia

Adding or editing a form

Requests for additional page features, including image carousels and calls to action